Two drag queens and a transsexual journey from Sydney to Alive Springs for a fortnight of drag shows on their bus Priscilla. Adventures abound.

The first time I saw Priscilla was at a screening in London just after its release. Star Terrence Stamp had videotaped an intro in which he said that the role of Bernadette was a career high for him along with playing General Zod in the Superman movies. How cool is that?! All performances are uniformly brilliant but it’s Stamp that deserves the most credit. His body language, poise and delivery are hypnotic. He brings kudos and dignity to such a fantastically written role.

Priscilla is a fantastic film about clashes of culture, family (and how you define it) and finding ‘home’. But, whilst this also sounds very earnest and trite, it’s also about killer set designs, out-of-this-world costumes and makeup that would make RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants look conservative.

Theres also a surreality to events that includes such gems as a dog called Herpes, a scene that involves the stool of Agneta from ABBA and a woman who fires ping pong balls from a certain part of her anatomy. This scene made me think of the sequence from John Waters’ Female Trouble in which you see Divine on a trampoline- you think you’ve seen everything but then the film still has several aces up it’s sequinned sleeve. In fact, Priscilla is John Waters, Fellini and much more.

There’s a scene at the end that involves miming to ABBA but another film from 1994 would involve the same musical ensemble but who would be more integral to the plot. More about that gem later.

Priscilla is one hell of a ride.

4.5 out of 5 stars